The present invention relates to eyewear and, more particularly, to eyewear that is worn by a user for safety purposes.
Various environments are very dangerous due to the exposure of flying debris and other materials. For example, a tooling shop is constantly exposed to flying metallic debris which presents a particularly dangerous condition for the eyes of the people present in the environment. Such flying metallic debris, caused from drilling and cutting of metal tooling, can easily fly into the eyes of a person in the environment causing serious injury.
To avoid contact with such debris, safety eyewear is typically employed. Such safety eyewear is available in many different forms. The safety eyewear used usually varies according to the level of protection needed. For example, face shields are often employed to completely protect the face of the user when there is a large volume of debris. Also, goggles may be used to protect the eyes only of the user when the volume and nature of the debris is significant.
In many instances, conventional eyeglass frames and impact-resistance lenses are more than adequate to protect the users eyes from light debris found in most work environments. However, such conventional eyeglass frames and lenses do not typically provide adequate protection on the sides of the frames in the regions of the temples. Thus, these safety glasses, using an eyeglass frame and lenses, are vulnerable to debris from the side.
To address the vulnerability of the aforesaid eyeglass frames and lenses to impact of debris from the side, shields are typically affixed to sides of the frames, such as to the temples of the eyewear, to provide additional protection from debris entering from the side of the eyewear. Such shields are typically referred to as xe2x80x9cside shieldsxe2x80x9d and can be affixed to the temples of the eyewear by various methods. Unlike goggles and full face shields, the eyeglass frame configuration of safety glasses can be made to appear similar to normal eyeglasses thus improving the aesthetic appearance of them which would make the user more likely to wear them thus improving overall safety. Most importantly, the side shields must be retained in place at all times to ensure that side protection is available at all times.
In view of the foregoing, the side shields must be easy to attach and secure in place. In the prior art, side shields have been riveted to the temples of the eyewear. As a result, the installation is permanent thus requiring use of the side shields at all times. Also, various clips and the like have been employed in prior art side shield configurations to retain them in place. For example, various prior art assemblies employ a wedge member to push against the temple into frictional communication with the channel of a side shield into which the temple resides. As a result, the side shield is less likely to detach from the temple during use. However, these side shield assemblies still easily become loose during normal use and then slide easily along the temple making them much less effective as a protective device for the user.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a side shield assembly that can be easily and quickly installed securely without the need for complicated clips and other structures. There is also a demand for a side shield assembly that does not detach or become loose from normal use. There is a further demand for a side shield assembly that cannot slide along the length of a temple of an eyewear frame. There is particularly a demand for a side shield eyewear assembly that is aesthetically pleasing in appearance. Still further, there is a demand for a side shield eyewear assembly that is low profile in configuration and has few parts than prior art assemblies.
The present invention preserves the advantages of prior art eyewear side shield assemblies and methods of installing the same. In addition, the improved eyewear side shield assembly of the present invention and method of installation provides new advantages not found in currently known assemblies and methods and overcomes many disadvantages of such currently available assemblies and methods.
The invention is generally directed to the novel and unique eyewear side shield assembly and method of attaching such a side shield assembly to an eyewear temple. The side shield assembly of the present invention includes a temple having a first side and a second side. A lock member is connected to the first side of the temple with a lock aperture therethrough. A side shield, having a laterally running channel, is provided with side walls and a pair of channel apertures on opposing sides of the channel and aligned with one another transversely across the channel. An eyewear temple resides in the channel of the side shield with the lock aperture residing between and aligned with the pair of channel apertures. A lock pin, having an upper end and a lower end, is routed through the pair of channel apertures and the lock aperture thereby securing the side shield to the temple. With the lock pin of the present invention in place, the side shield cannot detach from or slide along the temple of the eyewear.
To install the eyewear side shield assembly of the present invention, the temple of an eyewear frame is placed into the channel of the side shield so that the apertures on opposite sides of the channel are positioned on opposite sides of the aperture through the lock member, such as a wire loop, residing on the inner side of the temple of the eyewear frame. The lock pin is routed through a first aperture through the side shield, then through the aperture through the lock member and then through the aperture in the side shield located on the opposite side of the channel. Excess length of the lock pin extending below the side shield is preferably trimmed to make the assembly more attractive in appearance.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the instant invention to provide an improved side shield assembly for eyewear.
Another object of the instant invention is to provide an improved eyewear side shield assembly that can be quickly and easily installed without the need for special tools.
Still further, an object of the instant invention is to provide an improved eyewear side shield assembly that does not become loose over time.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a turn button that obviates the need for a separate fastener, such as a rivet or screw.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved eyewear side shield assembly that does not slide along the length of an eyewear temple on which it is attached.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved eyewear side shield assembly that can be easily detached from the temple of an eyewear temple.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved eyewear side shield assembly that is aesthetically pleasing in appearance.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved eyewear side shield assembly that has few parts to reduce the complexity and cost of the assembly.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a method of installing an improved eyewear side shield assembly to an eyewear temple.
A further object of the present invention is to allow the safety eyewear product to be supplied with temples that have the same thickness as non-safety eyewear.